Briefly:
Matthew Knight enters his third season at Loyola Marymount and is a two-time All-WCC performer. He earned first-team honors as a sophomore, becoming the first player since Hank Gathers to average a double-double. Will enter the 2006-07 like his teammate Brandon Worthy, a preseason Player of the Year candidate in the West Coast Conference. His experience also extends beyong LMU as a member of the Australian under-20 team that won the World Championship and for the under-23 team in the 2005 World Championships. This summer he toured with the Australian National Team, playing with and against the world's best players.

2005-06 Season Notes at LMU:
Matthew Knight had the type of season that made him a Player of the Year candidate in the West Coast Conference and earned him first-team All-WCC honors. Knight ranked seventh in the WCC at 16.2 points per contest and led the WCC in rebounds at 10.0 per game. In WCC play he increased those averages to 17.6 ppg and 10.6 rpg, ranking fifth and first, respectively. Knight became the 22nd member of the 500-rebound club with five rebounds against Saint Mary's (2-27-06), as he now totals 528 (6.9 rpg) in his career at LMU. He also has scored his 1,000th career point against Gonzaga (3-6-06) in the WCC tournament to make him the 28th player in LMU history with 1,000 points. He now has 1,005 points (13.2 ppg). In addition, he is just the 11th player in LMU history to have 1,000 points and 500 rebounds. As a junior, Knight led the WCC with 17 double-doubles, giving him 19 in his career. This season he had stretches of six and four consecutive double-doubles. He scored in double figures in every WCC game this season and had a career-best 32 points and 18 rebounds against Long Beach State (11-30-06). In addition to scoring and rebounding, he ranked fourth in the WCC in shooting percentage (.519), ninth in blocked shots (0.77), first in offensive rebounds (3.73) and second in defensive rebounds (6.23). The tone for his season started in the first game, going for 22 points and 10 rebounds, his third career double-double against BYU (11-18-05). He went to the free throw line a record 15 times against Montana (11-21-05), hitting another personal record of 10 and then became just the seventh player in LMU history to score 30 or more points with 15 or more rebounds as he went for 32 and 18 against Long Beach State. In the second meeting against Montana (12-6-05) he had fourth straight double-double with 22 and 11 (12-6-05). Skipping to conference play, he opened with 22 points, nine rebounds and three steals in win over San Diego (1-7-06). He followed that with his seventh double-double (22 and 15), going 11-for-15 from the field in double overtime win over USF (1-9-06). In those two games he hit 75 percent in two games from the field to earn WCC Player of the Week honors. In the trip to the Pacific Northwest he had his eighth double-double, this one coming against Portland (1-14-06) with 22 and 11. He was 8-for-14 from the field, making him 29-for-42 in conference play to start the season. He then went for 18 and 11 on the road against No. 6 Gonzaga (1-16-06) and had 10th double-double with 10 and 10 against SCU (1-21-06). He earned his 11th with 19 and 11 while holding SMC's Daniel Kickert to just six points in the win over the Gaels (1-23-06). He ran his streak of double doubles to six with 18 and 16 against Pepperdine (1-28-06). In the win over USF (2-4-06), he had the streak snapped but still managed 22 points and six rebounds. He was back to his old ways with double-doubles against USD (2-6-06) with 15 and 13 and then had 19 and 13 against Pepperdine (2-11-06). On the season he had 15 or more points to go with 15 or more rebounds in five games this season, the most by any one player in a single season since Hank Gathers, including 15 points and 16 boards in win over Saint Mary's (3-5-06) in the WCC semifinals. He added 11 points and 11 rebounds against Gonzaga (3-6-06) to earn WCC All-Tournament team honors, first player to do so since 1997.

2004-05 Season Notes at LMU:
Proved to be the go-to-guy for the Lions all season and for his efforts he earned All-West Coast Conference honorable mention honors as a sophomore. He finished the 2005 regular season averaging a team best 15.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game while starting all 28 games. He led the team in minutes with 28.9 points per game and led the team in scoring in 18 of the 27 games. He was only player to start every game this season and finished the season ranked 10th in the WCC in scoring and 11th in rebounds. His 10.5-point turn around on the season was the best in the WCC as he scored in double figures in all but four games. He ranked sixth in the league in shooting percentage (51.2) and was second in the league in offensive rebounds (2.82). Knight's 20 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field and a career-best 8-for-8 from the free throw line against Saint Mary's (2-17-05) was his eighth 20-point game of the season. Knight earned his second straight double-double with 19 points and a career-best 12 rebounds against Northern Arizona (12-29-04). He was the player since Ime Oduok in 1994 to have back-to-back double-double games. He had a then career-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting in win over Northern Colorado (11-24-04). He then led the team with 17 points in career-best 33 minutes in home win over Denver (12-1-04). On the game he was 6-for-9 from the field while adding an assist, a block and four rebounds. He then exploded for the Lions in win over San Diego State (12-18-04) to become the first Lion to score 30 points in a regular season game since Jan. 1998. Knight finished with 30 points on 13-of-21 shooting, going 4-of-4 from the line with a then career-high nine rebounds. Continued torrid pace at Virginia (12-23-04) with first career double-double, scoring a game-high 27 points with 10 rebounds. He went 11-for-19 from the field, 5-of-6 from the free throw line and two assists and two blocks. In conference play he led both teams with 20 points and nine rebounds at Gonzaga (1-13-05), going 10-for-18 from the field, grabbing five offensive rebounds. He had his sixth 20-point game of the season against Santa Clara (1-20-05) on 8-for-14 shooting and then scored 25 points on 10-for-16 shooting at San Diego (2-3-05). In that game he added eight rebounds and went five-for-five from the charity stripe. In win at USF (2-5-05) despite first half injury, scored game winning three-point play with 19 seconds remaining. He scored on lay-up and hit free throw to give Lions lead and the win while finishing with 12 points, five rebounds and an assist. Finished the game against Saint Mary's (2-17-05) with a quiet 20 points, hitting 6-for-11 from the field and career-best 8-for-8 from charity stripe.

2003-04 Season Notes at LMU:
Knight was slowed by ankle surgery following the World Championships in late July and missed the first six games of the season. The first-year player from Australia averaged just under six minutes per game while playing eight of the Lions first 16 games. However, in 10 of the Lions' last 11 games he averaged 21.4 minutes per game, scoring 8.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. The shortened season continued with a concussion suffered against the Waves, keeping him out of another game against Saint Mary's. He finished fifth on the team in scoring against WCC opponents with 5.8 points and fourth with 3.9 rebounds per game. On the season he averaged 4.9 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, ranking 11th all-time among freshman at LMU with 3.50 rebounds per contest. Played first game as a Lion against the UCLA Bruins (12-13-03).

High School:
Played for the Australian Institute of Sport, which is similar to the prep schools in the United States... played in hometown of Burnie, Tasmania before joining AIS... was selected to play for Australia's junior national team in the 2003 World Championships held in Thessaloniki, Greece, July 10-20... played in 13 of 17 games in the first half of the AIS season, leading the team to a 14-3 record... averaged more than 11 points per game while shooting 50 percent from the field (64-of-128) in his first season with AIS... also averaged 6.8 rebounds per game (88) in an average of 23 minutes... was among the team leaders in blocks with 10 and steals with 11... played for the Tasmania under-16 team in 1999 and 2000, the under-18 team in 2001 and 2002, and the under-20 team in 2003... was a member of the All-Australian Junior Camp in 2002 and 2003 while also playing for the Australian Junior Men's Team Oceania Qualification Series in 2002.

Personal:
Matthew James Knight was born on May 31, 1985 in Burnie, Tasmania, Australia... he is the son of Debbie and Scott Knight... father played professional Australian Rules Football... has one sister, Rachel... supports Make A Wish Foundation in Australia... an Elementary Education major.